Chapter 351: Chapter 350: Flirting
Inside the study at Marquis Yangling Mansion.
The room was somber.
The teapot bubbled steadily as Cui Yun added tea to it unhurriedly.
Xie Xun’s tense atmosphere dissipated as time passed.
"You’re saying, the death of your father and brothers was orchestrated by the official family?"
This news greatly disturbed him.
"In that battle, tens of thousands of lost souls, a disgrace for Da Qi, how—"
Cui Yun glanced at him blandly.
"Why is Heir Xie so surprised?"
He looked down: "When you went to eradicate the bandits, had you not been vigilant, you could have fallen into an ambush. The person behind it, does Heir Xie really need me to point it out?"
Xie Xun paused.
In all of Da Qi, perhaps no one had more informed news than Cui Yun.
He remained silent for a long time, and finally uttered, "The official family does indeed take great pains to eliminate people."
Cui Yun’s expression remained unchanged: "Pour a cup of murky water into a pool, and the water becomes unclean. It might not be visible to the naked eye, and this cup of water might seem inconsequential, but dirty is dirty."
He said, "The entire dynasty is contaminated."
"If Heir Xie has the time, please convey a message to the Third Prince for me."
"If he wants to overturn things, he should do it sooner rather than later."
Xie Xun suddenly regarded him, full of wariness.
"Brother, why are you so guarded against me?"
Cui Yun smiled faintly: "You and I are one family."
Xie Xun: !!!
"Don’t call me that! You are just taking advantage of the situation!"
He stood up and paced back and forth.
"Even his servants are helping you! Why don’t you go thank them directly! Why do I have to pass on the message!"
Cui Yun remained silent.
Xie Xun was unable to vent his frustration: "That person is also interesting. To pull you into the camp, he did not hesitate to give me the cold shoulder!"
Speaking of which, he felt powerless again.
"Cui Yun, she’s the only sister I’ve cherished since childhood."
Before he could say anything else, the door was kicked open from outside.
Shen Hua strode in, moving quickly, the step shakes in her hair barely swaying. Her lips pursed, she held several rolls of paintings and a thick journal in her hands.
Xie Xun: "This study is a restricted area, why didn’t you announce yourself?"
Before the girl could answer, Cui Yun laughed lightly: "Miss Shen from the Sui Courtyard is free to come and go as she pleases."
That sounded somewhat cheeky!
However, Xie Xun still found him unpleasant to look at.
He took a sip of tea.
"What is that in your hands?"
Shen Hua, possessing an intrepid character, said indifferently: "I forgot to mention, I took a trip to the Yan Family and in passing, turned Yan Kun’s study upside down."
"In the blink of an eye, you went to the Yan Family again!"
Xie Xun had a headache: "Your talent for stirring up trouble hasn’t decreased since the old days. What were you doing in his study? Could it be that you also wish to explore the Jinluan Hall in the future?"
Shen Hua blinked innocently: "Yingwu, that hot-tempered girl, smashed the Governor’s wife over the head and drew blood."
Xie Xun: ??
The Yingwu behind him guiltily hung her head in silence.
"Was the person obstructed?"
Shen Hua: "She wasn’t hit properly, still alive."
Xie Xun was concerned: "You, oh you! You sound rather regretful."
"Did anyone notice it?"
Shen Hua arched her little finger: "No, Yingwu is not a vegetarian."
As soon as Yingwu heard this, he straightened up proudly: "Heir Xie can rest assured, let alone that this time I only brought Miss Shen and Lady Xie with me, even if there were two more people, it would be a piece of cake for me."
Xie Xun jolted, and the water in his teacup swayed along.
"Oh, I even took Lady Xie for a stroll around the block."
She was even very unhappy: "Brother, you gave the order, and I followed right after, which shows that I take your words seriously. Why do you still blame me?"
Xie Xun felt a tightness in his chest, yet he could see that Cui Yun, sitting across from him, had no trace of emotional turbulence.
"Aren’t you afraid she will cause some kind of trouble?"
Cui Yun was indifferent: "So what if someone gets killed?"
Shen Hua finally cheered up: "Mm-hmm."
Xie Xun fell silent for a moment, finally understanding why Shen Hua took a liking to Cui Yun.
In his agitation, he opened one of the scrolls and paused when he saw the person depicted inside. His emotions turned solemn, and quickly, he opened several other scrolls, all featuring the same person.
Xie Fu.
He quickly grasped the diary written by Yan Kun.
Shen Hua had already read the content inside. She could even recite it verbatim.
"In the Jiayou year, when the Emperor ascended the throne, I wanted to bring Qu Niang back. My mother was not very pleased, but since I couldn’t abandon my wife through thick and thin, my mind was made up."
"The day before departure, I caught a fleeting glimpse on the street, my heart and soul shaken for a long time, unable to regain my senses. Upon asking a colleague, I learned that she was Miss Xie, named Xie Fu."
"Marrying Qu Niang was decided by the elders. Although she is my wife, it was in Miss Xie that I saw the taste of a heart-fluttering attraction. My soul is entwined in dreams of her, unable to extricate myself."
Shen Hua recited a few sentences and felt disgusted; she then said: "If it weren’t for Qu Xi coming to Shengjing City, Little Aunt Xie might have ended up married into the savage den of the Yan Family."
She sat down beside Xie Xun, resting her chin and looking deeply pained: "And it’s also strange, as a woman of decent household with neither power nor status, Yan Kun could have easily dismissed her with a little effort. Why did it become something everyone knows?"
Cui Yun poured her a cup of tea.
His thin lips moved slightly.
"At that time, it was probably the Wei Family that backed Qu Xi."
Without Duke Wei Mansion’s involvement, how could she have made such a splash in Shengjing City?
As for why the Wei Family stepped in, it was nothing more than having leverage over Yan Kun, which they then used to introduce him to the Minister of the Ministry of Justice as ’brothers respectful and sincere’, drawing him into the Crown Prince’s faction."
This statement made Shen Hua see through the fog to the clear moonlight.
She spoke word by word: "So, the Wei Family knows everything about the Yan Family’s matters?"
Is this also the real reason why the Yan Family dared not refuse the Wei Family’s marriage proposal for Yan Mi?
Back then, Yan Kun’s engagement with Xie Fu was done with Emperor He’s approval; if the truth comes out, it would be a crime of deceiving the Emperor, punishable by the execution of the entire family! No wonder the Yan Family had no choice but to fabricate such a colossal lie.
They say that the hated have their pitiable points, yet the pitiful state of Qu Xi was not caused by her. Naturally, Shen Hua wouldn’t feel ashamed for having made her bleed.
"She’s stubborn-headed, fully aware that Yan Kun is using her with a heart of a wolf and lungs of a dog, and even turns around to take a new wife, why keep such a heartless man? Still, she willingly throws herself at him, acting as if she’d die without a man, if she doesn’t learn the hard way, who will?"
"Why should Sister Yan clean up the Yan Family’s mess?"
Shen Hua was indeed thirsty; she reached out to take the tea Cui Yun was handing her, but unexpectedly he held it steadily without letting go, their fingertips touched, and she instinctively wanted to retract her hand.
But at that moment, she met Cui Yun’s eyes, which held a smile that wasn’t quite a smile.
As if to say again.
——That’s all the ambition you have.
Shen Hua jolted and stretched out her hand boldly, prying each of Cui Yun’s fingers apart one by one.
Xie Xun’s brows grew tighter and tighter.
The diary recorded the details exquisitely.
Depicting the man’s self-proclaimed deep love and baseness vividly on paper.
Xie Xun already guessed what followed.
He slammed the diary shut and caught Shen Hua’s eyes provocatively scratching the palm of Cui Yun’s hand.
Cui Yun had gentle eyes and was dashing in his attire, his lips a bright red.
All day long, Xie Xun’s face had not cleared up.
But he couldn’t bring himself to scold Shen Hua.
So.
"Cui Yun! Is there no end to this? To flirt with my Yangyang right in front of me!"